If there was one thing Regan could remember about her childhood clearly, it was the old girl nights she used to have with her mother and sister, which quickly faded to just consisting of she and her mother when her sister left.

Tammin Hamilton was the best at throwing girls' night. She always bought the right amount of candy and rented the right movies, and always made sure Regan didn't get to bed too late, or she'd be cranky in the morning. Sometimes Regan just wanted to spend some time with her mother.

"Babes?" Her mother's voice called out from the front of the house. Regan, already clad in her girls' night pajamas, met her at the door. Tammin took off her coat and grinned, holding up the big bag of jumbo marshmallows she had bought when Regan had called. "I come bearing good food. Well, not good for you, but you know what I mean."

"Isn't that the best kind of food?" Regan asked, helping her mom unload the groceries she had bought. "What's on the movie agenda for tonight?"

"I was thinking classic, so maybe an Audrey Hepburn marathon? Or maybe some funny 90's comedies? I think I have She's All That lying around somewhere."

Regan smiled. This was why she loved her mother. She wondered how her dad and sister could ever leave someone like Tammin Hamilton behind. "Either sounds perfect. I grabbed some pizza that should be here in a few minutes."

"You had better tell them to put extra pepperoni on it!" Tammin said as she put away the frozen ice cream and the chocolate syrup. "Let's get our movie started."

Thirty minutes later, deep into Roman Holiday and each on their fourth slice of pizza, Tammin started the conversation Regan had been dreading. "Why'd you call for girl night, babes? Are you alright?"

Regan shrugged, flicking a piece of pepperoni off her pizza. Tammin grabbed it from her plate and shoved it in her mouth. "I don't know. Have you ever been completely wrong about someone, Mom?"

Tammin laughed. "I was completely wrong about your father, wasn't I?"

"Not like that. I mean, I had this guy pegged all wrong and I just had a set expectation of him, you know? And then he goes and switches it up. Total three sixty. But at the same time, it's almost better that he's this way. I've never really felt so confused by someone before."

The older Hamilton woman set her plate of pizza down on the ground. "Sometimes confusing is good, honey. It makes things interesting and less boring, I guess. Your father was the most confusing man I'd ever met."

"Really?"

Regan loved moments hearing about the first time her parents met. Though she didn't have the closest relationship with her father, she loved hearing about the man he used to be. It made her feel somewhat connected to him.

"I was constantly calling him and asking to go out and he'd turned me down one too many times. Well, he got confused when I suddenly stopped calling. Realized I was done. He showed up at my house the next day, a dozen roses and a cheap box of chocolate. He promised that I could reject him as many times as I'd like as long as I promised that one day, I'd accept. He was always doing sweet things like that. Confused the hell out of me, but made every moment memorable."

Regan knew it wasn't the same. Her mother didn't have her best friend's heart lying on the line. Still, she popped a marshmallow into her mouth and nodded at her mother's words, contemplating them.

"Is there a certain person we're talking about?" Tammin asked.

Regan shook her head. "No one. Just overthinking something, I guess." She watched the television, following Audrey Hepburn's movements with her eyes.

Tammin cleared her throat as she leaned back, pressing her back against the couch. "Regan, are you happy with going to the community college?"

The change in topic was so sudden that Regan had a hard time keeping up. "What?"

Tammin shifted uncomfortably. "I just keep thinking that you're meant for more than that. And I know I say that it'll be hard to swing it, but if you really wanted to go away, I'd find the money. You know that."

Regan felt bad for her mother. She didn't know the procedure for these things. Her other daughter didn't even talk to her. Regan was the only one she had. Maybe she thought she was holding her back or something absurd.

The brunette leaned against her mother's shoulder, resting her head there. "You trying to get rid of me, Mom? I'll be here for a long time."

Tammin smiled. "Good. Now pass me a slice of pizza."

Tiffany Call had a tiny house. It was barely big enough for she and Embry, let alone Tammin, Regan, and Mackenzie, who was glued to Embry's side.

"Aunt Tiffany, it smells amazing," Regan commented from the couch. The three teens had been watching some stupid little program while their mothers slaved away in the kitchen.

"Thanks, sweetie!" Regan heard Tiffany call back.

"Mom's always coming up with new recipes," Embry stated, snuggling a it closer to Mackenzie absentmindedly. Regan thought it was cute, how the two kept trying to get closer to each other even though they were as close as could be. "Last week she made Mackenzie try macaroni pizza. Interesting, but good."

Mackenzie let out a little laugh before moving closer to Embry again. Regan remembered little things about their relationship. They had started dating in the later months of eighth grade and were both sophomores in high school now. Mackenzie was nice, certainly good for Embry. She kept him from acting too childish with his friends Jake and Quil. They almost seemed permanently stuck in the honeymoon stage.

In fact, she wasn't sure she'd ever seen them fight.

"So, any idea what you want to do, Regan?" Mackenzie asked once the program switched to a commercial. Her voice was soft, just like the rest of her personality. "Are you going to college?"

Regan nodded, shifting in her chair. "I'm going to Forks Community. I've got no idea what I want to do yet, so figured my best bet was getting my general classes out of the way."

Mackenzie nodded. "Smart decision. Community colleges are great. My sister swears by the one in Port Angeles." The small girl shrugged. "I don't know what I'm going to do either."

Embry snorted. "Shut up, Mack." Regan's cousin turned to her, his eyes lighting up. "She's brilliant at science. Seriously, she gets the highest grades in her advanced classes. She's probably going to do something awesome, like become a surgeon or something." Regan smiled as Mackenzie blushed, knocking her hand into Embry's chest in an embarrassed manner. "She's sure as hell smarter than me," Embry concluded.

"He's putting me up on a pedestal," Mackenzie argued. "Don't listen to him."

As they argued back and forth, Regan realized that they were almost as perfect together as Sam and Leah seemed to be. The difference between the two couples were their innocence, however. Sam and Leah seemed more passionate than in love sometimes. She knew that it wasn't true all the time, but it was how she viewed their relationship. Embry and Mackenzie were pure, like kids. They seemed to only have eyes for each other.

Regan wasn't sure which kind of relationship she wanted more.

"Dinner's up!" Tiffany called from the kitchen. Embry stood, holding his hand out to Mackenzie and pulling her up as easily as he would lift a backpack. He was almost a complete foot taller than her. Embry then helped Regan up out of her seat and they clobbered to the kitchen, running into each other when the walls got too close together.

"What's on the menu tonight, Mom?" Embry asked.

"Something normal, since I know the macaroni pizza embarrassed you," Tiffany said, rolling her eyes. "I just made sloppy Joe's. Dig in." The burgers were taller than Regan's mouth. She grabbed one and tried to bite into it, living up to the title of the burger when it dribbled down her chin and onto her plate.

"Very attractive, Reg. You'll make someone real happy someday." Embry snorted.

Regan reached her leg out and kicked him in the shin, much to his mother and girlfriend's amusement. Regan noticed that Tiffany had a tupperware in her hand, full of what looked like sloppy Joe soup.

"Who's that for, Aunt Tiffany?" Regan asked.

"Oh, it's for the Cameron boy. I'm in a book club with his mother and apparently he's been terribly sick with some sort of flu for the last two days. I told her I'd bring him some spicy soup to try and help him break it."

Regan had a vague sense of who Jared Cameron was. He was a year below her, going into his senior year, if she remembered correctly. He was popular, one of the boys you always noticed at school.

"That's nice of you, Tiff," Tammin said, giving her sister a smile. "But you need to eat, too. The burgers are amazing."

Aunt Tiffany looked down at her sloppy Joe's half of them were on Embry's shirt, which she would scold him for later. She shrugged. "They do look good," she mentioned, sitting down next to Regan and grabbing one for herself.

Meanwhile, across the tiny town of La Push, a howl broke out into the night. The second of its kind. And unbeknownst to them, the first of many.

"I guarantee that whatever you're doing right now will be ten times better if you help me with this."

That was Leah's tenth time saying that. And still, the summer reading assignment Regan was annotating wasn't suddenly ten times better.

She was sitting in Leah's bedroom, lounged across her armchair, her eyes glossing over as she read a line she was sure she'd already read five times. Leah was going through a bunch of bridal magazines, trying to find a dress or a style of cake or decorations she liked. The only thing she had picked out for the wedding, in fact, was the date. She and Sam would be getting married in February, in a little under four months, on the fifteenth. Leah was a little put out, since she had always wanted to get married in the summer and be able to have her reception on the beach, but it was the most available date and Leah wanted to be married right away. Plus, they were going to put up a tent, so Leah could still have her beach wedding. It was where Sue and Harry had gotten married.

"Regan, c'mon," Leah whined, rolling over so she was upside down, hanging off her bed. "This is so boring."

Regan snorted. "I'm not sure I've ever heard a woman say that in regards to her wedding."

"I just want to be married to him. He doesn't care what I wear. He doesn't give a shit about decorations. I swear, getting eloped would be out best bet. I'm sure he wouldn't mind."

"Sue would kill you."

"Yeah, I know," Leah sighed. "At least grab some post-its and stick them on the pages with the dresses you like." Leah flung the magazine at her best friend, along with the sack of ugly yellow tackies. "I want something that'll make me look hot, but not something that I'll be shivering in. I know it'll be February, but we're in La Push, unfortunately." Leah thought for a moment and then nodded. "And I've got to wear something I wouldn't be embarrassed about my grandmother seeing me in."

Regan flipped through the magazine, spotting a few that fit Leah's criteria as Leah flipped through a wedding decoration magazine. It was silent for a few moments before Regan saw it. She didn't even need a post-it. She flung the magazine at Leah and slammed her finger down on the picture of the dress.

"That one."

It was three-quarter lengthed sleeve, garnished at the hip with a small satin flower and a sash. It would probably go down to Leah's knee, since she was obviously taller than the model in the picture, but that was fine since it wouldn't drag in the sand. Leah could wear cute sandals or even go barefoot. Regan could see it now.

And as Leah stared at the dress and her face melted into one of pure happiness and amazement, Regan knew that this was the dress. Everything Leah said about not caring might have been true, but Regan knew she secretly wanted the perfect wedding. And this was the perfect dress.

"God," Leah whispered, "Regan, it's perfect."

"It is," Regan replied, watching her best friend's face for a moment longer.

"I'm getting married, Regan. I'm actually getting married to the man of my dreams. I'm going to get married where my parents got married and I'm going to get married to Sam in that dress." Leah looked down at her ring. "It feels so weird, but so right, you know? I'm not supposed to be anywhere else. I know that now."

Regan was getting used to the feeling of wishing she had what Leah had. But she was getting better at dismissing it. This was Leah's day, not hers. She wasn't going to be selfish.

"I want you to be my maid of honor. Well, duh you will be, but I realized I haven't formally asked you yet. I just thought you'd assume."

"Well, I was assuming, but it's nice to know."

The two of them looked at each other before they burst into laughter. It was like all the other times they had laughed, loud in the halls at school or hushed in the hours of the night at one of their sleepovers. It was like nothing was going to change. Like they weren't going to college in two months and like Leah wasn't getting married and jetting off on some honeymoon.

"Now we've got to find you a dress. What color were you thinking?" Leah asked, flipping a page after making sure to dog-ear that page of the magazine with the perfect dress.

"Depends on what you want," Regan replied. The answer was right because Leah beamed.

"I was thinking a light purple. It will totally look good with you. And I found this lilac arc decoration theme in one of these magazines and it looks great on the beach."

As they sat and tried to decide on a dress for Regan, they both didn't notice that a lone wolf sat outside, watching the two girls through the window, realizing that he could never really be happy with either one of them.

Each happiness came with a bit of sadness.